Blog Posts

2019 SEAONC SE3 #ChangeXSE3 Symposium

5/11/2019

The SEAONC Structural Engineering, Engagement, and Equity Project (SE3) held its 2019 Symposium on May 10th, 2019 in San Francisco entitled A Changing Workplace: How to Engage, Retain and Secure the Future of our Profession. From the inception of the symposium, the goal of this event was to broaden the discussion of engagement and equity by inviting structural engineers from all over California and outside of the state as well to participate on aspects of changing our profession for the better.

The sold out symposium featured inspirational speakers and thought leaders that left the audience invigorated and committed to advancement of our structural engineering industry. Following our symposium, an overwhelming majority of post-event survey participants stated they were extremely likely to recommend a friend or colleague to attend a future SE3 symposium, rating their overall experience as excellent.

For the organizers, volunteers and sponsors of this event, such statistics fuel our momentum to continue the work of SE3 for and on behalf of our engineering community. To learn more about the sessions and programming of the 2019 SE3 symposium, please go to this link.

SE3 Long-Term Mentorship Program- Kick-Off

3/20/2019

SE3 launched its Long-Term mentorship program on Tuesday, March 19, 2019 at Thornton Tomasetti in San Francisco. It was a GREAT success!!

The goal of the program is to create mentee-mentor pairs or groups across age, experience, and firms to encourage less experienced engineers to gain strategic guidance and career advice. Mentees had a chance to meet and mingle with their prospective mentors, and the event was a success! If you are interested in being a mentor for future mentorship events, please complete this form.

A big thank you to our mentors for their willingness to participate and mentorship co-chairs, Brenna Marcoux and Sarah Sullivan and co-chairs Zahraa Saiyed and Hayley Dickson, and several other SE3 volunteers for their efforts in making this event and program a great success.

SEAONC SE3 Long-Term Mentorship Program Kick-off!

3/16/2019

The SEAONC SE3 Committee will be hosting a kick-off event for the SE3 Long-Term Mentorship Program this Tuesday, March 19 at Thorton Tomasetti's office in downtown San Francisco. Our hope is that this program will give opportunities for less-experienced engineers to gain strategic guidance and career advice from other people from the local community.

Based on data collected from each of the participants, mentee-mentor pairs or groups were developed by the program co-chairs to provide alignment based on relevant experience, firms, career focus topics, and meet-up logistics.

We'd like to acknowledge the many individuals who are going to be volunteering their time and insights as mentors for the coming year. We look forward to hearing how the mentoring sessions go from both perspectives, and will be soliciting feedback throughout the process.

A big shout-out to our SEAONC SE3 Mentorship Committee Co-leads, Brenna Marcoux and Sarah Sullivan, and contributor, Yoshita Manne, and support from current SEAONC SE3 committee co-chairs Hayley Dickson and Zahraa Saiyed for putting so much dedicated time and thought into this program.

Thank you to TT-SF for generously allowing us to use their space for this event! We appreciate it immensely!

SEAONC SE3 Mentorshiop Program Mentors: See any familiar faces?

2019 SE3 Symposium Theme Announced!!!

3/3/2019

In January 2017, the SEAONC Structural Engineering Engagement and Equity (SE3) Committee hosted its first symposium in San Francisco entitled LISTEN. ASSESS. CHANGE. This sold out event hosted 120 attendees who came to learn about the 2016 SE3 study and listen to the experiences and inspiring ideas of a wide variety of professionals who were featured as speakers and panelists.

Our SEAONC SE3 leadership team is excited to officially announce the theme and venue of its second symposium in San Francisco, California. This half-day event, entitled A Changing Workplace - How to Engage, Retain, and Secure the Future of Our Profession, is for business owners, human resource managers, partners, and employees of all levels in the A/E/C industry who are interested in promoting discussion on engagement and equity in the structural engineering profession.

Date: Friday, May 10, 2019 | 1 pm - 7:30 pm
Location: SPUR, 654 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94105

Attendees will get a preview of the 2018 NCSEA SE3 survey findings related to satisfaction, employee engagement and retention. The event will include collaborative breakout sessions moderated by SE3 committee members, featuring special guests who will share their varied experiences and insights on workplace culture, strategic planning, career development and core values.

For more info on the program, speakers and moderators, please visit the symposium event page.

A HUGE thank you to our Title / Platinum sponsor Computers Structures Inc (CSI) for their loyal support of the SE3's mission though generous contributions. We deeply appreciate CSI's strong commitment to the enhancement of our profession!

Please ping us at se3@seaonc.org if you're interested in becoming an official sponsor for this event.

SEAONC SE3 Long-Term Mentorship Program

2/13/2019

The SEAONC SE3 Committee is launching a Long-Term Mentorship Program!
The goal of the program is to create mentee-mentor pairs or groups across age, experience, and firms to encourage less experienced engineers to gain strategic guidance and career advice.

In our 2016 survey, we found that respondents with identified mentors reported being more satisfied with career trajectory and career choice. SEAONC has long fostered a strong community among structural engineers in the Bay Area, and the SE3 mentorship program seeks to strengthen that legacy.

“Having a mentor motivated me to focus on my career goals rather than just my daily tasks and assignments. I hadn’t thought about that until I had a mentor who asked me those questions and showed interest in my development.” - Tim Hart, SEAONC President

“Mentorship orients us to the greater world of our profession, and helps us become the best version of ourselves.” - Taryn Williams, SEAONC Past President

Mentees - Apply Today! If you are interested in participating in the first year of our long-term mentorship program, please fill out this application. The commitment involves participating in a few 1-hr mentorship sessions throughout the year, as well as a kick-off and closing event. We are looking for mentees with a range of experience levels, students welcome! Applications close March 8, 2019.

If you know anyone who may be interested in being a mentee, please pass on this application. If you have any questions, please email us at se3@seaonc.org.

Mentors - If you'd like to participate as a mentor in a future mentoring event or program, please complete this form to be added to our database: https://tinyurl.com/ybp66pyn

Thank you for your interest and continued commitment to the advancement of the structural engineering profession!

SEAONC SE3 Fall Panel on Work-Life Balance

9/7/2018

The SEAONC SE3 Committee is excited to announce the upcoming panel discussion entitled Work-Life Balance: Perspectives and Real Life Solutions

Date: Thursday, October 11th, 2018.
Time: 5 pm to 8 pm
Location: Thornton Tomasetti, 650 California St #1400, San Francisco, CA 94108
Panelists: Abe Lynn, Ibbi Almufti, David Friedman, Gina Beretta, Lizzie Blaisdell
Moderator: Ayse Hortacsu

Details
This panel will open with remarks from the SE3 committee about the importance of work-life balance, highlighting findings from the 2016 SE3 survey and related preliminary results from the most recent national survey. The five panelists will discuss their personal and organizational experiences in establishing work-life balance.

The event will conclude with a Q&A session and a networking happy hour, during which attendees may share their reflections or experiences, ask questions,
or solicit advice from the panelists.

Please go to our SE3 event page for more information on this event.
Registration will open on Friday, September 14th.
Note that space is limited. We highly recommend that registering early.

Abe Lynn, PhD - Degenkolb Engineers

David Friedman, S.E. - Forell/Elsesser Engineers

Gina Beretta, S.E. - Tipping Structural Engineers

Ibbi Almufti, S.E., P.E., LEED AP - Arup

Lizzie Blaisdell, S.E. - Build Change

Ayse Hortacsu, P.E., Applied Technology Council

Best Practices Resource Guide

9/6/2018

While Angie Sommer, SE and Nick Sherrow-Groves, P.E. were chairing the SEAONC SE3 Committee in 2017, we had a small task group dedicated to refining and expanding our list of best practices, including resources for companies and individuals to help improve our industry.

Over the last couple of months, we have been working on the visual presentation of this guide. With great pride, we are delighted to share it with the professional community.

This team was lead by Rupa Garai. Other core contributors to this effort include Susan LaFore, Lauren Biscombe, Karen Vogt-Wilcox, Abhinanda Dilip, Brenna Marcoux and Sarah Sullivan, and of course, Rose McClure - for the vision, inspiration, and continuous support through this process of refinement.

The link to this document is HERE.
Please review, enjoy, and share with your colleagues!

The Best Practices Resource Guide provides a collection of actionable steps that can be taken by engineers at all levels, from entry level to principals, to move toward the goal of engagement and equity.

Call for National Leaders & Advocates across the Nation!

8/28/2018

The SE3 Committee is seeking passionate and talented leaders to help advance the profession by facilitating a national discussion forum for engineers, raising awareness on important professional issues associated with work culture and equity.

NCSEA's SE3 Committee is excited to announce the completion of its new Resource Guide. This guide is intended to be a resource for anyone interested in starting an SE3 committee within their state or local Member Organization (MO).

The SE3 Resource Guide contains:

recommendations on how to start an SE3 committee,
tips on how to plan the year,
details on marketing and recruitment, and
guidelines and worksheets for event coordination to help further the committee’s mission.

Benefits of SE3
Events and activities related to engagement and equity are often well-attended and well-received by attendees. We have also observed increased member interest and participation, greater mentorship opportunities for younger engineers, deeper connections, and enhanced communication between individuals within local MOs.

Don't forget to follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter or check out our 6 minute video.
The NCSEA SE3 Team
se3@ncsea.com

Summer Speed Mentorship Event a Great Success!

8/1/2018

Check out this wonderful recap composed by Brenna Marcoux, who co-led the organization of this event with Sarah Sullivan (Austin),PE. The new format was very well-received.

A special thank you to Jenny Truong, PE and Degenkolb Engineers SF for hosting and sponsoring the refreshments, and of course to all our mentors, the mentees, and the SE3 committee volunteers for helping make this event fun and engaging. If you’re interested in hosting similar mentorship events in your local or state organization, check out Chapter 5 of our handy new Resource Guide!

Summer Speed Mentorship Event

7/16/2018

SEAONC SE3 is hosting another Speed Mentoring Event!
Date: Thursday, July 26, 2018 | 5:30 pm to 8 pm
Location: Degenkolb SF, 375 Beale Street, San Francisco, CA

This time, we are offering an exciting new format, with the event structured into two professional experience level tracks:

Track One
Mentors: Professionals with 5-10 years of experience
Mentees: College students, interns and professionals with up to 4 years of experience
Focus topics: getting your first job out of college, applying/taking the PE exam, starting your career in the industry as a structural Engineer.
Register fort this track here

Track Two
Mentors: Professionals with 10+ years of experience
Mentees: Professionals with 5+ years of experience
Focus topics: applying/taking the SE exam, advancing your career as a Structural Engineer into senior level positions and principalship, options for board involvement within the industry.
Register for this track here

The event will include three rounds of speed mentoring and will end with networking among all attendees.

Learn about past speed mentoring events here:
Fall 2017
Spring 2018